Need Healthy Dinner Ideas

I like your ideas. Here are some embellishments.

I would add tomatoes and basil to the shrimp/scallop salad to make it caprese.

I would bake the salmon on wood planks. I got mine at Home Depot. They are specifically for baked salmon, not out of the lumber section. You soak them in water and then bake the salmon on top.

As a glaze for the salmon I combine mustard and honey.

Serve with Pinot Gris/Grigio if you like white or Pinot Noir if you like red.

 

Chicken stir fry.

 

Too late, but file this one away for future use:

* two Orange Roughy or Cod (your choice) fillets
* equal parts Dijon mustard and honey, mixed together (1-2 tbsp each)
* small hand full of finely chopped/crushed almonds
* two servings of asparagus


Lay the fish on a baking sheet and spread the honey mustard mixture over the top of each fillet, then dust the fish with the crushed almonds. Next, lay out the asparagus on the baking sheet and spray with a light coat of olive oil. Season the asparagus however you like (I prefer garlic & sea salt). Bake the whole thing at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. If the fish is more than an inch thick, you will want to start it in the oven first and then add asparagus when you have 15 minutes of cook time left.

Very easy dish and if you put aluminum foil on the baking pan you will have zero cleanup.

 

A cool, healthy and easy technique for cooking salmon, called unilateral:

Medium pan, put enough water to come up halfway to the top of your fillet. Season your fillet, I like salt and white pepper for this because it doesn't stand out.Put salmon in when simmering, make sure it does not stick to pan, maintain a simmer until cooked to the point the color change reaches all but the very top.

End result is a very nicely colored piece of fish with zones of well done, medium and rare.

 

I always thought that was poaching. I thought a l'unilateral was cooking it on a bed of hot salt.

Lately I have just been throwing it on the BBQ. The benefit of living in So Cal in the winter.

 

I'd stick to my original dinner ideas & figure any girl who worries about ONE meal a week ahead of a planned trip probably has SERIOUS issues. If she flips out? Dump her - it will save a lot of heartache in the future. If she is a sport & enjoys the meal? She's a keeper.

 

Well technically, yes they both are, just cooking from one side only is unilateral. And cooking in the water is poaching, you're right. Thank you for bringing it up!

 

That sounds good. You don't flip the fish though?

 

Nope. The crushed almonds wouldn't bake very well if you flipped the fish and I've never had an issue with the bottom side of the fish not cooking. If I were to use this recipe with a thick fillet, I might put the fish in a skillet for a couple of minutes (before adding the honey mustard or almonds) to start the bottom side cooking and then transfer it to the baking sheet with the cooked side down.

 

did you take any pictures? show us!

 

Also for future: Regarding fish like salmon, grill on wood fire, if available, otherwise, charcoal. Beforehand, prepare separately, a shallow dish, 12-14" across or so, with virgin olive oil, say, about 1/8" depth, then add thinly sliced fresh garlic, tiny spec of salt, and 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon (dont dare to use the "juice" in a yellow or green plastic grenade with green screw top....LOL!!

You should finally add some chopped parsley also. Do NOT heat this oil mixture!! You will ruin the oil aroma/flavor!! Served room temp! Add the hot fish fresh off the grill, and dunk into the oil mix. Very, very S Italian. Low fat, high flavor.